Girls!

Girls! What can I say about them? Well, they're usually very emotional, opinionated and attitudinal (is that even a word?).

My daughter, Taylor, is at a stage for girls that tends to be kind of awkward, but interesting. She's lost a front tooth so that space in the front takes some getting used to. But she's also quite beautiful and outspoken and friendly. Taylor is the kind of kid who, even as a baby, managed to give you this look that told you she thought you were a complete and utter idiot. While it was cute and maybe a bit disconcerting as a baby, at the age of nine, not so cute anymore. She's never been able to disguise her feelings very well. One look at her expression, and it's obvious what she's thinking. She's very honest that way.

After years of being brutally shy (my own mother didn't hear her voice until she was about 2 1/2!), she announced the other day that she thinks she may be popular at her school. All of her friends routinely argue with her about who her "best friend" is. She's never at a shortage of lunch buddies in the cafeteria. And she's always at the top of the guest list whenever anyone's planning a sleep-over or birthday party.

I think it's great for her to feel liked and accepted. For years I worried that she would be like her mother, with a small core group of friends, never making an effort to go outside that group. I was so incredibly quiet and shy that most of the people I went to school with didn't know I was a student there. For some time I thought she would be cursed with the shyness that stifled my own self-confidence. At the beginning of every school year, she wondered how she would make friends, what is she going to do if she isn't able to make any friends. That went on for about two years. Now that she's in the 3rd grade and much more confident than she used to be, it seems that those worries have drifted away. She's now the confident, outspoken kid that never gets nervous when she has to speak in front of her classmates. And she's so funny! She has the mannerisms of a much older person, kinda reminds me of Raven Symone the actress (I think that's her name). She's very animated and expressive, it's hysterical to watch her expressions sometimes. She's also got a beautiful voice and I think there may be some acting ability there too. It's my goal to cultivate that in her and I think she may enjoy it now that her confidence has grown so much.

Girls!